What is the European Resource Bank?
Modelled after the Resource Bank meeting organised by the Heritage Foundation in the United States and the Liberty Forum organised by the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, the European Resource Bank - the largest annual congress of free market think-tanks in Europe - today gathers together representatives from dozens of European and American think tanks, academics, policy experts, elected officials and other parties interested in the debate over strategies and problems posed to the European free economies and in the future of individual liberty in Europe.
The Resource Bank meetings attempt to build a 'bank' of human capital - the ultimate resource in the enterprise of freedom - and to create and renew the ties between the participating organisations which themselves pool human capital in the fight for a free world.
The European Resource Bank project started seven years ago at the initiative of Prof. Hardy Bouillon and Prof. Pierre Garello, when representatives from thirteen European classical liberal think tanks met in November 2003 in Gummersbach, Germany, to reflect on ways to improve inter-organisational cooperation. During this meeting a consensus was reached that a work was still required both to improve organisational strategies and to bring into the debate all those involved in the promotion of individual liberty throughout Europe. This led Pierre Garello, Director of IES Europe, to establish the inaugural European Resource Bank meeting.
Now in its seventh year, each European Resource Bank is hosted by a different European institute. The program is designed by the organiser in close cooperation with historical members of the group including IES-Europe (Paris), Hayek Instiut (Vienna), Lithuanian Free Market Institute (Vilnius), International Policy Network (London), Institute for Market Economics (Sofia), New Economic School of Georgia, Institute for Free Enterprise (Berlin), Atlas Foundation for Economic Research (Washington), Cato Institute (Washington), Heritage Foundation (Washington), Fredrich Neumann Stiftung für die Freiheit (Berlin), and the Liberales Institut (Zurich).
While topics of the meeting are wide-ranging, from issues of European economic integration to the financial and monetary crisis, the primary mission of the European Resource Bank Meetings is to improve the organisational strategy of those promoting freedom througout Europe, and to serve as a meeting forum for organisations, experts, partners and friends to develop new ideas and share new experiences.
The European Resource Bank provides unparalleled networking opportunities for those within the European free-market and limited-government community.
Your hosts this year are the TaxPayers' Alliance.
Details of the 6th European Resource Bank, Marseille, France 2009
Details of the 5th European Resource Bank, Tblisi, Georgia 2008
Details of the 4th European Resource Bank, Bucharest, Romania 2007
